that is an increase of more than 4% over last year. >>> the u.s. postal service says today is the busiest day of the year for them. today is the final day to ship holiday packages by standard post if you want them to arrive in time for christmas. the post office estimates about 658 million packages were mailed today alone. this friday is the last day for private mail guarantee for christmas delivery. and saturday is the last day for an express mail guarantee. the post office estimates by christmas it will have delivered 18 billion packages. >>> a survey find by visa finds bay area residents are lagging behind when it comes to shopping. compared to nationwide, 73% still have gifts to buy. visa says 16% of "bay area people" haven't even started shopping yet. >>> senator daniel inouye from hawaii died today. he was a world war ii hero, and medal of honor winner. he lost an arm after being hit by a german grenade. the senator played key roles into the investigations into the iran contra scandals, and watergate. he died of respiratory complications at a